Method and system for printing documents from a portable device
AssigneePalo Alto Research Center Incorporated
InventorsKurt E. Partridge, James M. A. Begole, Diana K. Smetters
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
One embodiment provides a system for facilitating document printing from a portable device. During operation, the system receives at an email server an email which includes an attached document. Next, the system generates at the email server a document optical code associated with the document, wherein the document optical code can be scanned and recognized by a scanning mechanism associated with a printer. Subsequently, the system attaches the optical code as an additional attachment to the email, thereby allowing a portable device to print the attached document by displaying the optical code to the scanning mechanism associated with the printer.
Claims25
A computer-implemented method for facilitating document printing from a portable device, wherein the computer includes a processor, the method comprising:
- receiving, by an email server, an email which includes an attached document;
- in response to receiving the email, generating, by the email server, an updated email which includes a document optical code for the attached document, wherein generating the updated email involves:
- generating the document optical code based on content of the attached document, wherein the document optical code is associated with the document, and wherein a printer is configured to use a scanning mechanism to scan the document optical code to retrieve the attached document;
- and
- generating the updated email to include the original attached document and an additional email attachment, wherein the additional email attachment includes the document optical code and is separate from the original attached document;
- and
- sending the updated email, which includes the original attached document and the additional email attachment, to the portable device, thereby facilitating the portable device to print the original attached document at the printer by displaying the document optical code to the scanning mechanism associated with the printer.
An apparatus for facilitating document printing from a portable device, the apparatus comprising:
- an email-receiving mechanism configured to receive, at an email server, an email which includes an attached document;
- an optical-code-generating mechanism configured to, in response to the email-receiving mechanism receiving the email, generate a document optical code based on content of the attached document, wherein the document optical code is associated with the document, and wherein a printer is configured to use a scanning mechanism to scan the document optical code to retrieve the attached document;
- an email-updating mechanism configured to, in response to the optical-code-generating mechanism generating the document optical code, generate an updated email which includes the original attached document and an additional email attachment, wherein the additional email attachment includes the document optical code and is separate from the original attached document;
- and
- an email-sending mechanism configured to send the updated email, which includes the original attached document and the additional email attachment, to the portable device, thereby facilitating the portable device to print the attached document at the printer by displaying the optical code to the scanning mechanism associated with the printer.
A computer-readable storage device storing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method for facilitating document printing from a portable device, the method comprising:
- receiving, at an email server, an email which includes an attached document, wherein the email is to be forwarded to a portable device;
- in response to receiving the email, generating an updated email which includes a document optical code for the attached document, wherein generating the updated email involves:
- generating the document optical code based on content of the attached document, wherein the document optical code is associated with the document, and wherein a printer is configured to use a scanning mechanism to scan the document optical code to retrieve the attached document;
- and
- generating the updated email to include the original attached document and an additional email attachment, wherein the additional email attachment includes the document optical code and is separate from the original attached document;
- and
- sending the updated email, which includes the original attached document and the additional email attachment, to the portable device, thereby facilitating the portable device to print the attached document at the printer by displaying the optical code to the scanning mechanism associated with the printer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.